Great orators vanish

Great orators vanish

CAMIL PARKHE
Sunday, July 11, 2010 AT 12:00 AM (IST)
Tags: Shivajirao Bhosale, Orator
Newspapers in Maharashtra prominently carried last week the news of Shivajirao Bhosale's death. Bhosale was a former vice-chancellor, writer and college principal for several years. But it was the orator in him that was the highlight of all the news stories, obits and editorials. Professionals like teachers, lawyers and preachers have to constantly put their oratorical skills to test and only some of them stand out as good orators. As a reporter in Aurangabad, I had covered Bhosale's week-long lecture series on
"Dnyaneshwari." The innumerable members of the audience were left spellbound each day with his oratorical skills.
Acharya Atre was undoubtedly the greatest orator among the towering personalities who led the Samyutka Maharashtra movement in the 1950s. After Atre, humorist P.L. Deshpande mesmerised the Marathi-speaking audience. I had attended a three-day lecture series delivered by this popular writer in Goa. On the first day, I had managed to secure a seat reserved for journalists in the packed hall and experienced his power of oratory. The next day, I had to hear him standing in the crowded passage that led to the rows of seats in the hall. On the last day, the hall was packed half an hour before the speech. I could only hear P.L., not see him.
Shivshahir Babasaheb Purandare is among the veteran orators Maharashtra has produced. There were many other personalities whose lectures drew thousands of people in various cities. Keertankar Govindswami Aphale, editor Madhav Gadkari, writers Ram Shewalkar and Y.D. Phadke are some of persons whose oratory skill impressed masses.
As I went through the obits on Shivajirao Bhosale, I wondered who are the gen-next orators who can step into his shoes. There are scores of orators from various fields. But none can draw people in as large numbers as Atre, P.L., Bhosale or Purandare did. Of course, this is no reflection on their oratorical skills but an outcome of the changing era. In the present age of 24-hour news channels, live and reality shows, and entertainment, how many people would visit a hall and listen to a speaker for over two hours? And how can an orator hone his oratory skill without a constant feedback from the audiences? The future may bring in many popular orators but they are unlikely to reach the stature of Purandare, Bhosale, P.L. Deshapande and Atre. Titans in the field of oratory with a large following may well be a thing of the past.

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